Veteran reinsman Dave Ingraham guided the winner of the fastest of two $9,690 divisions of the Maine Standardbred Breeders Stakes (MSBS) for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings on Wednesday (July 28) at Cumberland.
Ugotaearnyrstripes and Ingraham took command right from the start, scoring from post position two, and led the field into battle and through all the checkpoints to earn a seasonal mark of 2:00. The son of Deuce Seelster paid $6.60 to win, races for trainer Stephen La Casse, and was bred and remains the sole property of Edward A. Blash.
The Ron Cushing-owned and driven Daughtry finished second with Use Yah Blinkah finishing third for Heath Campbell and Valerie Grondin.
The aforementioned team of Campbell and Grondin joined forces once again to capture the second MSBS $9,690 division with their pupil Bandolito Blaze.
Wagering favoruite Ranaldi, owned and driven by Ron Cushing, left swiftly from the inside starting position and led the field through all the stanzas and into the Cumberland stretch drive. A battle for second developed with Pas Black Magic (Matt Athearn) sitting in the catbird seat until challenged past the half by Storm Artist (Andy Harrington), who came first up and was making forward progress.
But Heath Campbell had other ideas as he swooped them all with Bandolito Blaze. Coming from off the pace, Campbell pulled the Western Maverick colt three-wide around the final turn and utilized the long fairgrounds stretch to outstep the colts that were fully engaged in their own front end fracas.
Bandolito Blaze paid $9.60 to win for breeder-trainer Grondin, who shares ownership with Rhonda Underhill. Ranaldi finished second; Storm Artist was third.
This weekend features the Jake Phipps Memorial, to be held at Cumberland on Saturday (July 31). The introductory edition of the event pays homage to a young man beloved by all and whose passion for harness racing inspired those around him. The winner’s circle presentation will be filled with members of the Phipps family, as well as many of the friends that Jake made along his lifelong pursuit of the sport and love of Standardbreds.
First post time is 2:30 p.m. The special event has been carded as race nine on the 12-race program, which is the final Saturday card of the Maine track's inaugural spring/summer extended pari-mutuel meeting.
(First Tracks Cumberland)